


Timing

by Orithain, Rina9294



Series: Art of Seduction [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coitus Interruptus, M/M, Marauders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-08-22
Updated: 2003-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-23 12:21:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4876591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orithain/pseuds/Orithain, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rina9294/pseuds/Rina9294
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius and Remus still have some hurdles to overcome</p>
            </blockquote>





	Timing

"How are you feeling, love?" Sirius asked quietly. He and Remus were sitting under one of the massive trees in the Forbidden Forest, waiting for moonrise. He was worried about the drawn, haggard look on his lover’s handsome face, and he knew Remus hadn’t been sleeping well lately, but he wasn’t sure if something, other than the upcoming full moon, was bothering him.

"I’m fine," Remus said sharply before he sighed, knowing he wasn’t fine and taking it out on Sirius wasn’t going to make him feel any better. "I just wish... Oh _hell_!" He twisted around so his head lay in Sirius’ lap, one hand clutching the dark-haired man’s ankle almost desperately. "I wish I didn’t have this curse, that we didn’t lose this time every month, that... oh, that I were _normal_!"

"Remus..." Sirius said gently, folding himself over his lover as if trying to shield him from the weight of his curse. "You’re you, that’s all that matters to me. I wish we could cure you, not to make you ‘normal’, but because I can see how you hurt every month."

"I’m afraid of hurting you," Remus admitted painfully. "I couldn’t live with myself if that happened or if... if I infected you with this." He turned his head to the side, burying his face in Sirius’ lap. He could feel the call of the moon gaining power, and he hated it.

"If that happened, we’d look for a cure together or we’d both live with it," Sirius murmured. "You need to remember that we’ve been running together for four years, love, and Moony has yet to hurt Padfoot, Prongs or Wormtail, remember? We’ll be fine, I promise."

Remus raised his head to look at Sirius, unshed tears making his eyes glisten. "If I were to lose you now..."

Sirius shook his head and leaned in to brush his lips against Remus’. "Bad knut, remember? You can’t get rid of me even if you try."

"I’m being a prat, aren’t I?" Remus sighed. "I’m really surprised you don’t boot me in the arse sometimes."

"It’s too nice an arse to boot, and there are other things I’d rather do to it as you fully well know." Sirius leaned in again and kissed Remus, stroking a hand over the other man’s golden-brown hair and trying to relax him though he knew the time before Moony and Padfoot would run was short.

"Wish we had time now," Remus said wistfully. "But I’ll try to hold on to that thought. I’m grateful, you know, for what you and the others have done for me. I’m not sure I’d have made it without you."

Sirius moved his hand to rest it on the side of Remus’ face. "You’re stronger than you know, Remus. You’d have made it." His watch chimed, and he sighed. "Better strip down, it’s almost time." There was no need to tell Remus this; he’d once said he could feel the moon like a tide rising in his blood. There were times Sirius hated the moon because of the pain it caused Remus, and this was one of them, but there was nothing to be done about it.

Remus sat up reluctantly, stealing a kiss before he rose to his feet. "Yes, only a few more minutes," he said absently, his gaze turned inward as he gauged the feel of the moon. He removed his clothes and folded them neatly to one side, then turned to look at Sirius, wanting him to be the last thing he saw before the change overwhelmed him.

"See you in the morning, love," Sirius promised, reaching out to stroke Remus’ cheek and feeling the hair begin to bristle under his palm as the change began. Remus doubled over as the pain of his transformation swept through him, and Sirius took that moment to change forms so that the huge black dog would be waiting when Moony arrived.

Even through his pain, Remus watched Sirius until the wolf’s mind took over and only Moony was left. He threw back his head and howled at the full moon, then turned away from the dog he’d learned was no threat to him and ran, long legs covering the ground as he raced through the forest.

Padfoot bounded after Moony, his thicker body bulling through the underbrush where the wolf’s natural grace let him slide through unmolested. Hoping to keep Moony from scenting and going after prey, Sirius caught up to him and bumped into his side in an invitation to play-fight.

Moony hesitated, torn between playing with his companion and following the hint of scent he’d caught on the night air. But he wasn’t hungry just then, and the dog was there, so he twisted around, nipping at the other as the black dog leaped away. Barking his amusement, Moony taunted the other with a swish of his tail before leaping over a bush and dancing away.

Breathing a sigh of relief when the wolf joined in the game, Padfoot gave a loud bark and crashed through the bush, purposely bumping into Moony’s side and knocking him off stride.

Moony yelped when the clumsy dog banged into him, and his claws dug into the ground to steady himself. He chased the heavier canine, coming at him from the side and knocking him over so they tumbled together playfully.

Yelping when a particularly energetic push by Moony shoved him into a tree trunk, Sirius shook himself off and leapt for Moony again, glad the wolf was distracted but knowing Remus wasn’t going to be the only sore one in the morning.

His tongue lolling out, Moony was all but laughing at his less graceful playmate as he ran circles around Padfoot, darting in to nip at his flanks before dashing away again.

Padfoot growled when he turned and missed snatching Moony’s tail between his teeth. He chased after the wolf again, taking care to keep him herded away from the Hogwarts grounds and the areas of the forest he knew the centaurs roamed. This had been easier with Prongs and Wormtail because it seemed Moony had the whole month’s worth of energy stored within him every time he appeared, and controlling him was a bit much for one animagus, not that Sirius was ever going to say that out loud.

Moony paused in their play, nose lifted to sniff the scent an errant breeze had brought to him. He growled slightly, smelling prey, and he hesitated, poised to track it despite the dog who had bounded past him in the opposite direction.

Cursing soundlessly when he saw that Moony wasn’t following him, Sirius whirled and barked sharply, making a run toward the wolf, then backing away. If it came down to it, he knew one thing that would have the werewolf chasing him; it just wasn’t fun to present himself as human bait.

Moony still hesitated, the scent of the prey stronger on the night air now, and he took a step in that direction, then looked back at the barking dog. His instincts urged him to hunt, but something else drew him to Padfoot, and he remained still, torn.

Padfoot’s barks turned into a growl, and he rushed Moony, nipping him on the haunch and bowling him over, hoping that if playing didn’t get the wolf’s attention then perhaps fighting might.

Moony turned on the dog with a snarl, lips drawing back and amber eyes fixing on him. He moved toward Padfoot, stiff legged, though he relaxed somewhat as the wind shifted and he was no longer inundated with the scent of prey.

Reading the change in Moony’s body language, Padfoot heaved a sigh of relief, though it was short-lived as now he had the wolf’s full attention, and it looked as if they were in for a serious tussle. Ah well, Remus’ peace of mind was worth a few bruises and bumps.

Moony lunged at Padroot, attacking him but as a pack member, one with whom he would practice his skills, not a full-out attack intent on killing his opponent. His jaws snapped shut on air as the dog evaded him, and Moony drove forward again, intent upon winning.

Padfoot gave it his best, but in a fight, even a mock one such as this, the wolf’s animal instincts gave him an edge. It wasn’t long, not surprisingly, before Sirius found himself on his back, looking up into Moony’s amber eyes, baring his throat to the huge beast.

Moony stood over him, teeth on Padfoot’s throat, just barely pricking the skin beneath the fur. They remained like that for a long moment, then Moony backed away and yipped at the dog, inviting him to join him as he explored the night.

After rolling to his feet and shaking himself, Padfoot trotted after Moony, raising his nose to test the night air and casting a glance toward the full moon, glad to see that it was beginning to descend toward the horizon.

The wolf and dog ran through the night side by side, occasionally nudging one another playfully, the time slipping past unnoticed. Suddenly Moony stumbled as he was leaping over a gully, and it was Remus who fell to his knees on the other side.

Changing forms halfway down the slope, Sirius skidded to a stop alongside Remus’ side, drawing the exhausted man into his arms, his expression pained as he surveyed the anguished expression his lover wore. "It’s all right, love," he murmured. "Let me get you dressed, then we’ll get home and you can relax."

Remus curled into Sirius’ arms, clinging to him for long moments as he tried to hide from the world. "I hate this," he whispered into Sirius’ chest.

"I know," Sirius whispered, stroking Remus’ back, wishing there was something he could do to help. "I know, but I love you if that helps at all."

"Not at the moment," Remus admitted painfully, "but it will in a little while."

Finagling his wand from his back pocket, Sirius accioed Remus’ clothes to them. "I’ve got the portkey back to the flat," he said, continuing to rub Remus’ back. "Ready to go?"

Pushing his hair back out of his face, Remus straightened up and reached for his clothes. "Yes, more than," he said, not bothering to dress before he moved back into Sirius’ arms. "I want to go home."

"Then home we’ll go, Remus," Sirius promised, taking a small cassette tape from his pocket and holding it out so that Remus could touch it as well. "And once we’re there, I’ll draw you a bath and you can have a good, long nap."

"With you," Remus said, not caring if he sounded needy just then. He needed to feel Sirius’ arms around him, reminding him that he was human.

"Nowhere else I’d rather be, I swear." Sirius held out the cassette, feeling the familiar sensation of being hooked in the guts and pulled rapidly along once Remus touched it as well.

Once they’d appeared in the flat again, he pulled Remus’ clothes from his arms and dropped them to the floor, then supported his lover as they walked to the washroom. "You just sit here and I’ll run the bath," he murmured, draping a towel around the other man’s shoulders and flicking his wand back at the tub to get it filling with piping hot water.

"You spoil me," Remus murmured, slowly relaxing now that it was over for another month and he was back in the familiar, comforting surroundings of the flat he shared with Sirius.

Sirius smiled at that. "Of course I do, I love you." He straightened up and began to strip his own clothes off, intending on supporting Remus through the bath then getting him to bed. Thankfully, the other man didn’t have any students until later tomorrow, so he could sleep in a bit.

"And I still don’t understand that," Remus said, showing a flash of humor as he watched Sirius undress. "But I’m glad of it, Siri."

"You’d best be," Sirius replied mildly, careful to keep his bruised side turned away from Remus’ gaze. He knew his lover wasn’t at his most alert after a full moon so thought he’d be able to hide the injury from him until he had it looked after by the mediwizards at the Ministry. "Now come on, into the tub with you."

"You first," Remus insisted. "You’re bigger than me, so I get to be on top." He smiled crookedly at his lover, peering at him though his hair, which had fallen over his eyes.

Sirius crooked a grin at this. "Wanting to top, Remus? My, my." He did as he was told though and climbed into the tub, holding out a hand to steady Remus as he climbed in as well.

"Not in the bathtub, you prat!" Remus laughed. "But I’ve been told I have a good seat." He smiled faintly as he stepped into the water, then waited for Sirius to sit before he sank down onto his lap.

"That you do," Sirius murmured, circling Remus’ waist with his arms and pulling the other man back against him, soothing them both with the move. "Though right now all you’re going to do is relax."

"Too tired to do much else," Remus admitted, leaning back into Sirius’ embrace. "Though I suppose we could go back to old times and I could listen to you wank," he chuckled wearily.

"Have to admit I might be too tired to do that even. Shall I owe you that then?"

"I think so. After all the times I had to listen to you, I think it’s time I got to watch." Remus turned and smiled over his shoulder even as he slumped lower against Sirius. "You’re a sodding tease, you know that, right?"

Sirius looked shocked. "And why do you say that, Master Lupin?"

"Lying there for months on end, knowing I was listening to you, never letting me know that you wanted more, wanted me." Remus kept a straight face as he explained. It wasn’t often he got the upper hand over Sirius.

Sirius had the good grace to look abashed. "Well, you could have told me to keep it down," he objected.

"A bit difficult that, considering that I was chewing on my pillow at the time."

"Ahhh, so that’s why the house elves always had to keep replacing it. Couldn’t imagine what you were doing to the thing unless you had a fixation on chickens or some such rot."

"Very funny." Remus jabbed back at him with his elbows. "Was it my fault you were driving me barmy?"

Sirius smiled and leaned in to kiss Remus’ neck. "You mean I don’t drive you barmy any longer?"

"No." Remus waited a moment before he continued, "Now I get to touch you whenever I want, so why would you?" He chuckled quietly.

"Prat," Sirius murmured lovingly as he reached for the washrag and gently cleaned the scrapes on Remus’ chest and arms.

Remus just sighed contentedly, reclining in Sirius’ lap and smiling as his lover cared for him. "This is ever so much nicer than the quick wash I used to give myself when I got back to our room."

"Or the ones Madame Pomfrey had to give you on the bad nights." Sirius winced at bringing that up and hugged Remus close.

"I like this much better." Remus tilted his head back so he could press a kiss to Sirius’ cheek. "I’d really rather not think about being with Madame Pomfrey like this."

"That’s a rather revolting thought, Remus. I believe it was James she fancied anyway."

"Sirius!" Remus splashed him, making a sound of disgust. "That’s just horrid! I should punch you for James."

Sirius chuckled, shaking the water droplets out of his face. "Punch me for Lily more like it. I’m more scared of her anyway."

"And so you should be!" Remus shuddered. "That girl can be downright scary when she wants to be. And I hate to be prosaic, but I’m starting to shrivel up."

"And you need some sleep," Sirius nodded, managing to slide out from behind Remus and climb out of the tub, grabbing a large towel and holding it out for his lover as he slowly climbed out as well. "Want a bite before you nod off?"

"I’m too tired to chew," Remus admitted, stepping forward into the towel that closed around him and leaning his head on Sirius’ shoulder for a moment. "Just want to curl and sleep. Stay with me till I do?"

"Of course," Sirius promised, gently drying the water from Remus’ body and leading him toward the bed, helping him in so that he didn’t bark his shins on the edge before following after drying himself off as well. "Get some rest, love. I’ll set the alarm so you aren’t late for your tutoring session."

"Set it early enough so that I don’t have to rush off," Remus mumbled, already falling asleep. "Want time for y-you." His words were broken by a huge yawn.

Sirius shook his head, smiling tenderly before leaning in and kissing Remus’ forehead. "Wish I could stay, Moony, but an auror-in-training’s work is never done. We’ll have time tonight, I promise."

Remus grumbled softly, but he was too tired to argue. He held Sirius’ hand, pulling it to his cheek as he dozed off.

Sirius remained in bed next to Remus until he was sure the other man was asleep, then brushed the golden-brown hair back off his brow to kiss his forehead before scooting to the edge and out of the waterbed, taking care to assure himself that Remus was covered and comfortable. All in all, it hadn’t been too bad a night, and he was very glad of that.

Yawning widely, Sirius scratched at his hair and stumbled off to the closet to find his clothes and get ready for another day of training.

***

When the alarm went off, Remus batted at it, grumbling as he pulled his pillow over his face. He was always exhausted after a full moon, but at least he wouldn’t have to go through that again for another month. And tonight he would make it up Sirius. He hadn’t been so tired that he’d missed the other man’s comment about topping. That should give him something to think about till he got home again.

Grinning to himself, Remus rolled out of bed and went to get ready, already planning the night ahead.

***

Feeling as if every bit of his body was bruised and aching, Sirius dragged himself up the stairs to the flat he shared with Remus, cursing his luck - or lack of it. Why today of all days did they have to have practice duels? He’d been hit with more curses and jinxes than he could count, and the instructor had not been pleased at all with his explanation of ‘not getting much sleep the night before’. Ah well, he’d sack in tonight and do better tomorrow.

Yawning, he unlocked the door and walked inside the apartment, dropping his robes by the door and heading for the couch, intending on collapsing for a bit.

Having been waiting impatiently for Sirius for the last half hour, Remus was a bit taken aback by the other man’s exhausted appearance when he finally arrived. He paused to regroup, then came up behind him, lightly stroking the dark hair.

"You look done in, luv. Fancy an early night after dinner?" It looked like his plans were going to have to be postponed till they were both awake enough to enjoy them.

Sirius leaned back into Remus’ touch, looking over his shoulder to give the other man a wan smile. "Think it’s going to have to be one. Shackleford kicked my arse up and down the hall today, so I’ve got double practice tomorrow. Remind me again why I wanted to be an auror?"

Remus started massaging Sirius’ shoulders, feeling the knots of tension in him. "Because you’ll be a bloody brilliant one," he said, putting aside all thoughts of anything more energetic than cuddling. "Why don’t you have a bit of a rest and I’ll get dinner ready. It’s about time I pampered you some for a change."

"There’s no need for that, Remus," Sirius protested, trying to straighten up though his body seemed content to stay just the way it was. "You aren’t at your best today either, don’t think I don’t know that."

"All the more reason for me to have something else to concentrate on. And you should know by now that you’re my favorite subject." Remus leaned over to brush a kiss over the top of Sirius’ head. "Besides, I’ve _seen_ you in the kitchen. It’s safer this way."

"I can cook," Sirius yelped, pouting outrageously. "My spells in the kitchen aren’t that horrid." Remus just looked at him with that patient ‘he’ll come to his senses eventually’ expression, and Sirius sighed. "Well, they aren’t."

"In that case, I’ll make my dinner and you can make yours." Remus smiled sweetly, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Sod off, prat," Sirius grumbled, shooting a glare at the other man and rearranging himself more comfortably on the sofa. "For that you _can_ fix dinner."

"Like there was ever any question," Remus chuckled. "Get comfortable, it’ll probably take half an hour or so. I like making things by hand." He tugged gently on Sirius’ hair to make him look up, then kissed him before going to the kitchen.

"And I like the things you make with your hands," Sirius called before rearranging himself on the sofa, groaning under his breath as he tried to get comfortable.

"You mean you like me making you hard with my hands!" Remus yelled back, snickering under his breath. Everything was nearly ready, but he’d keep himself busy for a while so Sirius would fall asleep and get some rest.

***

"Unh. How long was I asleep?" Sirius rasped, sitting up and wincing as stiff muscles pulled. He blinked owlishly and looked toward the window where he could see it was full dark outside, then turned to see Remus, who was curled up in an armchair, marking papers. "Sorry about that, Moony. I hope you ate without me."

"Don’t be absurd. I put a spell on it to keep it fresh. Your nap gave me time to get some of this lot done." He gestured with the paper in his hand.

"You still should have eaten," Sirius grumped, sitting up rather stiffly. "Everyone’s going to think I’m not taking care of you."

"No one can fathom why you’re with me at all. I don’t think you have much to worry about. They all think I should be taking care of you. And I rather enjoy doing it. Besides, why would I want to eat alone when I can share a meal with you?"

Sirius sighed and pushed the dark hair back out of his face, looking at Remus pointedly. "Everyone who knows us knows exactly why I’m with you and you bloody well know it. Don’t make me paddle your arse tonight, I’m too tired and sore." Sirius grinned at the last and stood, stretching his arms over his head to get the kinks out of his back, making his shirt ride up.

"You and what army?" Remus snorted even as his eyes fixed on that tantalizing glimpse of bare flesh. "Attacking a wizard is a chancy thing, Mr. Black," he intoned. "You might get more than you bargained for."

"And just what do you mean by that?" Sirius inquired.

Remus smiled wickedly. "You’ll have to try to find out. But don’t be too certain who’ll come out on top." Unable to resist, he pulled Sirius into his arms for a very hungry kiss.

Sirius sighed and relaxed into the kiss, winding his arms around Remus’ waist and allowing his mouth to fall open under the other man’s assault, his tongue sliding over Remus’ as his mouth was explored and tasted.

"Mmm, if we didn’t both need the food, I’d say forget about dinner and just enjoy you," Remus murmured. "But I don’t think either of us needs to pass out from lack of energy tomorrow." He moved so he was standing beside Sirius, one arm around his waist, and urged the other man toward the kitchen. "I tried my mum’s recipe for pot roast. You’ll have to tell me what you think."

"Sounds good," Sirius murmured, settling into his seat at the small table and picking up his fork, waiting until Remus joined him to take a bite of the steaming food. After chewing carefully and swallowing, he smiled. "Well, if you decide to stop teaching, you can always open a restaurant."

"You mean you wouldn’t keep me? So much for my possible career as a gigolo," Remus chuckled, taking a bite as well and deciding that he hadn’t done a bad job of it. "Mmm, wine would be good. Accio us up a bottle, why don’t you. You’ve better taste when it comes to that."

"You really want me falling asleep here at the table, don’t you?" Sirius chuckled, reaching for his wand and conjuring up a bottle of a rich burgundy he knew Remus had liked in the past. After accioing the corkscrew and a pair of glasses, he opened the bottle and poured them both some.

"Mmm, good," Remus murmured after taking a sip. "And no, I prefer you falling asleep in our bed. Where I can curl up with you since obviously that’s all we have the energy for tonight. Right now, though, I want you to eat something."

"Yes, dear," Sirius took a bite of pot roast then yawned with his mouth full of food.

"Yuck!" Remus chuckled. "Good thing I wasn’t planning anything because that would have put me right off it!"

Sirius snorted and coughed when he almost inhaled the food in his mouth. "Nothing puts you off, Moony; you’re a right sexual deviant, you are."

"And whose fault is that? You’re the only one I’ve been with, so you must have taught me everything I know."

"And you’re complaining about that?"

"Certainly not. But it sounded like you were. I could lie in bed stiff as a board and not do anything if you’d prefer," Remus suggested, grinning.

Sirius cocked a dark eyebrow at Remus and took a sip of his wine. "If I wasn’t so tired, I’d see just how long you could manage to keep that up."

"We can try it sometime. Sounds like lots of fun," Remus retorted before taking another bite of his roast. "Hours and hours of you playing me with. However could I stand it?"

"I’m sure you’d manage to soldier on, just treat it like you did Binns’ class," Sirius chuckled before yawning again. "And sorry, love, as good as this meal is, the thought of several uninterrupted hours of sleep is winning out over it."

"Go on then. I’ll just tidy up here and be in to join you in a bit." Remus stood up, leaning over to brush a kiss over Sirius’ lips before he began gathering up the dishes.

"I can help," Sirius protested, reaching for his wand and intoning ‘lavo,’ at which all the dishes were instantly clean.

"And you didn’t even break any this time," Remus teased. "I’ll domesticate you yet."

Sirius looked highly affronted by the idea. "Never!"

Remus only chuckled. "Go on then, I’m right behind you. We could both use the rest."

"Right behind me, eh?" Sirius asked as he stood and stretched, then started out of the kitchen. "Too bad, any other night and I’d take you up on it." He grinned back over his shoulder at Remus and wandered into the bedroom, stripping down as he went, to collapse on the waterbed dressed only in his boxers.

"And any other night I’d do something about it," Remus muttered. "And will when I get the chance." He followed, gathering up Sirius’ garments and laying them on a chair, followed by his own before he slid in beside Sirius and curled up against the taller man, his head on Sirius’ shoulder.

***

"Mmmm, what precipitated this welcome?" Sirius asked when his lips were finally free of Remus’ though his body was still pulled firmly against the other man’s. "Not that I mind, of course, it’s quite the welcome."

"I’ve missed you, and we haven’t had any time together all week where we weren’t exhausted. We’re both awake tonight." Remus nibbled on Sirius’ chin, rocking his hips slightly.

"And growing more awake by the minute," Sirius rasped, sliding his hands down Remus’ back to cup his ass. "Just what do you have planned for me, Moony?"

"I thought it was about time I took control... and you," Remus murmured, now tracing the whorls of Sirius’ ear with the tip of his tongue. "I want to take you, Siri, make you squirm and cry out as you do to me."

Sirius froze, swallowing thickly before giving a full body shudder. "I think that would be acceptable," he whispered, his voice having fled along with all the blood in his brain.

"Glad to hear it." Remus’ hands stroked down Sirius’ back to cup his buttocks and pull him closer, both men gasping as they pressed together. "Bed, now," he rasped, backing Sirius toward the bedroom.

"Mm hmm.’ Sirius was beyond words at this point, so he only nodded, backing toward the bedroom without losing contact with Remus’ body. His knees hit the side of the waterbed, and he reached for the other man’s shirt to remove it when the familiar crack of displaced air told him someone had just apparated in the living room. "Fuck!"

"No!" Remus wailed, burying his face in Sirius’ shoulder and clenching his fists. "This isn’t happening!"

A second crack sounded, and both men heard James and Lily calling from the other room.

"I suppose we could pretend we aren’t here," Sirius muttered, "though knowing them, they’d find us anyway."

"Maybe we could run away from home," Remus whimpered, glaring toward the door. "How would they like it if we just apparated in on them?" Even with the interruption, he was still rock hard and aching for Sirius, and for two knuts he’d have ignored the couple in the living room and dragged Sirius down onto the bed regardless.

"They wouldn’t," Sirius sighed, kissing Remus once again before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "We were in the middle of something!" he yelled.

Snickers followed that, then James pushed open the bedroom door, beaming, his arm around Lily’s waist. "Sorry about that, chums; we’ve got news though. News that couldn’t wait."

"News that couldn’t wait because you couldn’t wait to crow over your virility," Lily smiled.

Most of his blood somewhat south of his head, it took Remus a moment to understand. When he did, he let out a whoop of delight. "A baby! Congratulations!" He hugged first Lily then James, taking care to keep some distance between their lower bodies as he did. "So when’s the happy day?"

"A baby?" Sirius blinked in startlement before joining in on the round of congratulations and hugs. "Just remember, we don’t change nappies!"

"He or she is due in July," James said proudly.

"You’re the first we’ve told," Lily added, laughing when Sirius and Remus decided she should be sitting and hustled her over to a chair in the living room. "And you will be changing nappies when you babysit, or I’ll hex you with impotence curses!"

"You wouldn’t!" Remus regarded her in horror. "Lily! That’s a horrible thing to threaten a man with, especially when we’re ‘newlyweds’ too!"

"Might be best at this point as it seems we’re never to have a chance to use them," Sirius muttered.

James snickered, eyeing their disheveled clothes. "Sorry about that, we just wanted to share the good news. It seems there’s so little of it nowadays."

"Well, we were going to make some of our own," Remus sighed. "But we’ll forgive you since this is truly wonderful news. And tomorrow I’m looking into a privacy spell for the flat!"

Recovering from both his annoyance at having been interrupted and his shock at the Potters’ news, Sirius clapped James on the back, knocking his glasses askew. "So, should we celebrate?" He looked at Remus out of the corner of his eyes and gave a tiny shrug - what could they do?

Remus sighed, thinking cold thoughts and reminding himself that not only was James one of his best friends but Lily was pregnant. Sending them to the North Pole really wouldn’t be a good idea. He eyed Sirius wistfully. "We can get you some sparkling cider, Lily, and we’ll have extra champagne for you," he teased, turning away from his lover before he did something regrettable - like jumping him right there.

"Though we could make this a true celebration and take the parents-to-be out to dinner," Sirius mused. "Any cravings yet, Lily?"

"Padfoot, she’s only a few weeks on!" James said, scandalized.

"None yet, Sirius," Lily laughed, "but when they come, I’m sure James will round you boys up to help him comb the globe for what I want."

"I really don’t think James is such a good friend, do you, Sirius?" Remus said, appearing to give the matter great consideration. "We really shouldn’t associate with him any more."

"He does seem to have become quite domesticated..." Sirius murmured, shaking his head pityingly.

"Prats," James muttered, aiming cuffs at the backs of both their heads.

"I definitely don’t think we should take him out for dinner after _that_ ," Remus added, grinning. "Is that any way to talk to a mate?"

"So you’re saying you aren’t taking us out? Welchers!" Lily commented, making all three of the men howl with laughter.

"Fine, fine, to save ourselves from the gracious Mrs. Potter’s wrath, we’ll take you out."

"Well, we could always steal Lily away and forget about James, you know," Remus suggested, smirking at James. "We don’t actually need him, do we."

"He did do his part already..." Sirius said, nodding his head in agreement.

"So you’re saying you two are going to be there when I have this baby?" Lily asked sweetly before breaking into laughter when both Sirius and Remus looked as if they were in fear of their lives.

"And here I thought the two of you were Marauders," James scoffed. "You’re just chickens."

Remus drew himself up to his full height and looked down his nose at James. "Don’t be absurd. Whoever heard of a werechicken?" he demanded scornfully before bursting into laughter at the look on James’ face.

"Wouldn’t that be a werecock?" Sirius asked blandly before collapsing against Remus, howling with laughter.

Lily glanced over at James, who was trying manfully not to snicker. "Oh go on, you know you want to," she said, her voice tinged with fond exasperation.

James only shook his head vigorously though his color was high from holding the laughter in. He managed to say, "I’d think Sirius would know best."

Remus laughed. "Not as well as he would if you lot had waited an hour or two."

"To put it succinctly, my dear Potters," Sirius gasped, "your timing sucks!"

"Not as well as you do from what Remus says," Lily shot back.

"I hardly remember anymore," Remus retorted, chuckling.

"Doesn’t say much for you, Sirius," James mused.

"It says that we’re both too damn busy and have too many people popping in to do anything anymore," Sirius grumbled, straightening up and running a hand through his hair.

"Poor boys." Lily stood and gave them both kisses on the cheek. "It’ll be an early night, we promise."

"Someone else will show up or something will come up," Remus predicted gloomily. "It’s as if there’s a curse on our sex-life."

James snickered. "I hardly think anyone’s interested enough in it to curse it."

Sirius grumbled. "If Snivellus was anywhere around, I’d say it was him."

"Oh, stop moping, the two of you," Lily commanded. "If it makes you feel any better, James won’t be getting any either when I’m as big as a house."

"Well, being as I’m not pregnant," Remus retorted, "it’s not really a comfort that the only one getting less than me is someone who is... and not even now, but in the future." Still grumbling, he got to his feet and offered his hand to Lily to help her up. "Diagon Alley for dinner?"

"That sounds perfect," Lily smiled, taking Remus’ hand and standing though she scarcely needed the help.

"And we can share a bottle of firewhiskey," Sirius murmured under his breath when James quickly moved to Lily’s side, treating her as if she were spun glass.

"I need a cold shower more," Remus muttered back, though he was glad the Potters had come to tell them first. "Good thing we can all apparate though. Lily certainly shouldn’t be traveling by floo powder in her condition."

James nodded vigorously. "Certainly not."

"And why not?" she asked, looking at all of them in turn. "The mediwizard didn’t say anything about that."

"But, the spinning... won’t it make you, you know... sick?" Sirius asked.

"And surely the shock to your system couldn’t be good for the baby?" Remus added.

"And all the dust and soot," James put in. "Not good for either of you. No, we certainly shouldn’t be traveling by floo until the baby’s much older."

"It’s a wonder you think I should even go out of the house at all, what with You-Know-Who’s Death Eaters all around," Lily snapped.

"Good point." Sirius frowned. "James, you should tell Dumbledore next; the Order should know about this."

"Merlin, you’re right! How could I not have thought of that!" James jumped to his feet, intent upon correcting his oversight immediately.

"James Potter, you shall do no such thing!" Lily commanded, making all three men jump. "We’re going out to dinner tonight and having a nice time. The Order won’t fall apart if we don’t think about it for one evening!"

Sirius sidled over to Remus’ side, eyeing Lily warily. "I think she means it, mate."

Remus caught Sirius’ hand, also keeping an eye on Lily. "I think we should all do what Lily wants. I don’t want her to hurt us."

"But, Lily..." James tried to argue.

"But what, James?" she asked in the same implacable tone.

"Listen to Lily, Prongs," Sirius urged, "she knows best."

"But we should go or dinner will be very late," James said, recognizing defeat when it hit him between the eyes.

Remus snickered as he stood with an arm around Sirius’ waist. "See, Prongs _can_ be trained. I _told_ you he wasn’t completely hopeless, Siri."

"Funny, I thought you said the only way that would happen was if Lily hit him with a gob-smacked jinx."

"Who says I didn’t?"

"Lily!" James groaned. "Let’s go, please!"

"Suddenly I’m feeling much better," Remus stated, grinning. "Let’s go celebrate the first of the next generation of Marauders."

***

"It’s the weekend, right?" Sirius asked cautiously, opening one eye and peering around as if worried someone or something would pounce out from the shadows of their bedroom and interrupt. "No work, no Order business, nothing but you and me, right?"

"That’s how it’s supposed to be," Remus replied, also looking around suspiciously. "Of course, I’m expecting a boggart to leap out from under the bed and attack us, and who knows who all to suddenly appear in bed with us." He sighed heavily. "I’m getting to be afraid to touch you for what might happen next."

Pulling Remus into his arms, Sirius kissed the other man soundly. "At least we can easily rid ourselves of boggarts and as for touching... so far the curse seems to be inoperative." He slid a hand lower to cup Remus’ bum. "Though I’m definitely operative."

"Mmm, you certainly are." Remus wriggled against him, feeling both their cocks begin to rise to attention. "But the big question is, do we remember what to do next?"

"We can always improvise, Moony my love," Sirius chuckled, wrapping his legs around Remus’ and arching up under his weight.

"Are you sure that’s allowed?" Remus pretended to worry, amber eyes sparkling mischievously as he slid down so his erection was gliding between Sirius’ ass cheeks every time they rocked together.

"We’re Marauders, Remus; anything and everything is allowed, or have you forgotten that as well?"

"Oh a very good point. So if I wanted to do this," Remus slid down farther still and nibbled gently on Sirius’ cock, "it would be all right?"

Sirius groaned and shifted on the bed, making it rock beneath them. "D-definitely."

"And this?" Remus lapped at Sirius’ sac, then opened his mouth and somehow managed to suck both balls inside, being careful to keep his teeth covered.

"Remus!" Sirius groaned, fisting his hands in the sheets, the tendons in his neck standing out in stark relief.

"I’ll take that as a yes," Remus chuckled when he finally stopped suckling on the other man. "And how about this?" He dragged his tongue along the crevice between Sirius’ cheeks, tasting a faint hint of his own pre-come, then flicked the tip over the sensitive opening.

Sirius’ moan drowned out the sound of the door to the flat being opened.

"Oh yes. And this..." Remus had barely lifted his head to whisper the last words, and now his tongue was probing the resisting muscle, slowly loosening it until he could press inside.

"Merlin, yes, Remus. So good," Sirius wailed, his back arching upward and making the bed rock again.

Remus pressed closer, his tongue going deeper until he was fucking Sirius with it, and one hand rose to curl around Sirius’ cock, slowly stroking. He didn’t want Sirius to come yet, not before he was inside him, but he wanted to give his lover all the pleasure he could.

"Remus? Sirius? Where are you blokes?"

Sirius opened his eyes and managed to push up onto his elbows. "I don’t believe this. Just do not - oh fuck - believe this. Do we have any of those muggle rat traps around?" His whole body was on fire, and all Sirius wanted to do was hex Peter into oblivion so that Remus would go back to making him beg.

Remus froze, his mind slowly absorbing the sounds from outside the bedroom and Sirius’ words. He groaned as he rolled to one side and lay face down on the bed, fists clenched at his sides and his cock so hard he was afraid he might puncture the waterbed.

"If we don’t, I’ll _make_ one," he growled.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn’t hex you to the moon, Wormtail?" Sirius growled menacingly, wondering if you really could die from prolonged arousal.

"Umm... I have a date and I need help?" the blond called from the other side of the bedroom door.

"Being dead would solve all your problems," Remus grumbled, face still buried in the bedding. "Why does everyone troop through here, Siri, why?" he moaned.

"Because we’re such lovable chaps?" Sirius muttered, rolling to his side and resting his head on Remus’ shoulder. "Give us a minute, Peter. If anything, your timing is worse then James and Lily’s!"

"Oh! Sorry, I just..." Sirius could hear Peter shifting around outside the door. "Did you get them a baby gift yet?"

"We could give them a pet rat," Remus muttered, finally rolling to his side and facing Sirius. "I think we’re going to have to run away from home, love. This is getting ridiculous."

Sighing, he sat up. "Go make us some tea, Peter. We’ll be out in a minute."

"All right. Don’t be long though, I haven’t a clue what to wear!"

"If we weren’t such good friends, we could really make him pay for this," Sirius sighed, not moving from the bed quite yet.

"I’m not certain yet that we won’t!" Remus sat on the edge of the bed, bent over, and he willed his body to calm. "This really can’t be good for us," he grumbled, straightening up to stare at his still half-hard cock. "Do you think he’d ever forgive us if we just disapparated?"

"This is Peter, of course he would." Sirius scrubbed at his face with his hands and finally sat up and scooted to the side of the bed to stand. "We’ll just make him pay for it later - after he tells us who he has his date with."

Remus sighed. "It had better be good or I really will kill him." He stood up and reached reluctantly for his boxers. "I think I got more relief when I was on my own and just dreaming about you."

"I know I did," Sirius grumbled, finding his jeans and pulling them on, not bothering with underwear or a shirt. "Oi, Wormtail! What’s this about you having a date?" he called, flashing Remus an apologetic look over his shoulder before walking out into the hall.

Remus admired the view, promising himself to get Sirius more jeans for Christmas, and waited ‘til he disappeared from sight to pull on his own. Barefoot as well, he followed Sirius to the kitchen where they found Peter pouring the tea.

"What do you think I should wear?" Peter burst out anxiously the moment they appeared. "I don’t want her to think I’m a complete git. Do you think I should bring her a wrist corsage?"

Trying not to snicker at Peter’s almost wild expression, Sirius dropped heavily into a chair and reached for the tea Peter had poured. "Depends on a couple of things I suppose. One, who is she, and two, where are you going?"

"Callista Humfries. She works with me at the Ministry," Peter added importantly. "And her parents are muggles, so I thought I’d take her to a nice restaurant in London since she’s used to that sort of thing."

"Then you should wear a good suit," Remus said as he sat down beside Sirius. "And flowers would be nice but _not_ a wrist corsage."

"A suit? Well, I have those knickerbockers and my tweed jacket," Peter mused, making Remus choke on his tea.

"I think we need to take you shopping," Sirius said decisively. "Quickly. Just when is this date?"

"Tonight, of course. Didn’t want to give her time to change her mind."

"Just let us get dressed and we’ll take you to find something to wear. You have to fit in with muggles when you go to their restaurants, after all." Remus got up, trying not to picture the outfit Peter had mentioned.

"Just... stay here, Wormtail, we’ll be out in a jiff." Sirius managed to get into their bedroom, close the door behind them, and cast a quick silencing spell before collapsing on the bed, holding his sides as he laughed. "Knickerbockers? As annoyed as I am about being interrupted, it _is_ a good thing he came over. Knickerbockers!"

Remus fell down beside him, laughing so hard he was shaking. "I know. Merlin, where do some wizards find these things? I’m eternally grateful that you prefer jeans. I love you, Siri, but I don’t think I could look at even you in knickerbockers." He snickered as he dragged himself back to his feet and pulled a shirt out of the closet.

"It’s the 1970s, not the 1920s," Sirius laughed, climbing out of the bed as well and reaching over Remus for his own shirt. "And by the way, if I haven’t mentioned it, I love the way you look in those jeans too."

"Glad to hear it, though the way things have been going lately, I’m not sure it matters," Remus sighed. "I really did get more relief when all I was doing was lying in my lonely bed and listening to you wank than I do now that we live together. We may have to run away together."

Grabbing socks from a dresser drawer and his trainers from the floor, Sirius finished dressing and pulled Remus in for a tight hug. "That’s what we’ll do then. I’ve heard Hawaii is lovely this time of year, and you’d look fetching in a grass skirt."

"Prat," Remus retorted fondly, kissing him quickly. "You can wear the skirt. You have much better legs," he teased, grinning. He pulled away reluctantly, going to get his own socks and shoes when all he really wanted to do was pull Sirius down to the bed.

"Right then, let’s go get Peter fixed up," he said moments later as he straightened up again.

"The sooner we do that, the sooner we can see about taking care of ourselves," Sirius remarked ruefully. He banished the silencing spell and opened the door, chuckling when he looked down the hall and saw Peter pacing nervously in the living room.

"So, Wormtail, do you have any muggle money or are you planning on washing dishes after your date? That’s what they make you do if you can’t pay, you know."

"I have money," Peter replied, glad he’d gotten that much right. He reached into a pocket and pulled out what looked like a handful of Spanish doubloons. "The money changer tried to give me some silly bits of paper, but I knew better and got this instead."

Remus bit back a groan and managed not to roll his eyes. "Er, yes, that’s muggle money too, but those bits of paper are what they usually use. I don’t keep enough cash about to swap you, but Sirius might have?" He glanced at the dark-haired man enquiringly.

"Should have," Sirius grunted, studiously not looking at Remus for fear he would start laughing again. He walked over to the desk in the corner and dug around in a drawer, coming up with a wad of pound notes. After counting through them, he nodded. "Plenty here for a night out and for you to get a fashionable set of clothes too. While we’re out and about, we’ll give you a quick lesson on how British money works so you don’t get rooked."

"And you’ll be able to impress Miss Humfries with your ease in the muggle world," Remus added, herding Peter toward the door.

"Hope so, I don’t want her to think I’m a nutter," Peter mumbled as he allowed himself to be eased out. "How will we go? We’ll never all fit on that bike of yours, Sirius."

"Well, we can’t apparate in the middle of Harrod’s, so I suppose we’ll have to take a cab or the tube. Any preferences, boys?" Sirius locked the door behind them and redid the wards, reminding himself to stop including friends in those allowed to pass through them. "Though you shouldn’t worry what the delectable Miss Humfries thinks about you, Wormy; we know you’re a nutter, but you’re our nutter."

"That’s such a comfort, Sirius," Peter retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Cab, it’s quicker, and the three of us can cram in," Remus said, not minding the prospect of being jammed against Sirius for a bit.

"Of course, for providing you with this service, dear Peter, you owe us details of your date - lurid details. Say..." Sirius looked thoughtful and glanced back over his shoulder at Peter as they all trooped down the stairs, "Would this be the same Callista Humfries who was a Hufflepuff and a few years ahead of us?"

Peter turned bright red and mumbled something incoherent.

"Hmm, I do believe you’re right, Padfoot," Remus observed, grinning. "A pretty green-eyed blonde, wasn’t she? Not bad, Peter, not bad at all."

When they all got to the street, Sirius hooked an arm around Peter’s shoulders and one around Remus’. "Now, Peter, dear, you’re a big boy, so I think it’s time your Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony fill you in on the facts of life..."

"Prat." Peter jabbed him in the ribs while Remus snickered. "I need advice on clothes, not _that_!"

Sirius sniffled and rested his head on Remus’ shoulder. "Our little Wormtail’s all grown up, Moony. Where did the time go?" Peter hit him again, and Sirius yelped. "All right, all right, clothes it is. Not one word about snogging and shagging except to warn you to use contraceptive charms or we might be celebrating the birth of another little Marauder in nine months time."

Peter growled, and Remus hastily flagged down a passing cab. "Behave. We have an audience," he hissed at them, trying not to laugh, though he couldn’t resist adding, "Another might not be so terrible. It would be a playmate for baby Potter."

Peter made a sound reminiscent of a boiling tea kettle.

"Just be glad neither Remus nor I will ever procreate," Sirius snickered, ushering Peter into the taxi and pushing Remus in next to protect him from the middle spot.

"Horrid thought," Remus shuddered. "Besides, we’d be perfectly dreadful parents. We’ll be much better as the much loved uncles who lead the kiddies into misadventure then bring them home to their doting parents." He waited while Sirius gave the destination to the cabbie, then leaned into Sirius, his head going to Sirius’ shoulder.

"Sounds like the perfect life to me," Sirius laughed. "Driving you and Prongs batty, having lots of sex - if this curse ever wears off - and being all around bad influences."

"Works for me," Remus agreed.

Peter only rolled his eyes. "How long does it take to get there? This cab-riding is—" He bit off the rest of his words as Remus jabbed him savagely with an elbow.

"We’ll take you on the tube on the way back, then you’ll learn what slow is," Sirius murmured.

"And will you stand behind me, Siri?" Remus murmured.

"Thought you wanted to be behind me," he muttered back, chuckling when Peter wrinkled his nose at them both.

"Need longer than a tube ride for that," Remus chuckled. "But first we have to get young Master Pettigrew ready for his evening on the town."

"Too true, too true. Will London survive, I wonder?"

"More to the point, will Peter?"

"Ha ha. You’re a right pair of gits, you two are."

"But we love you, Wormtail," Sirius crooned, leaning over Remus to give the shorter man a smacking kiss.

"Prat." Peter turned his head to stare out the window while Remus’ shoulders shook with laughter.

"There it is up ahead, Peter," he said a few moments later. "See that didn’t take long at all."

Peter looked suddenly nervous, and Sirius reached behind Remus to pat his shoulder. "Don’t worry, mate, we’ll get you through it."

The taxi stopped and the trio climbed out, Sirius leaning back in to pay their fare. "All right, off to find a suit."

"You’re sure my knickerbockers won’t do? I look quite smart in them," Peter said.

"Not quite the usual muggle fashion, I’m afraid, Peter," Remus replied gently. "We’ll get you a nice suit at the height of fashion. Callista will be very impressed."

"You’ll have to get a photo of the two of you," Sirius added, pushing open the door to the department store and ushering the other two inside.

"Yes indeed. You can put it on your desk. She’ll like that." Remus glanced at the racks of white and powder blue suits and sighed. It wasn’t going to be easy finding something that suited Peter.

"Are you taking her to a club afterward?" Sirius pawed through the suits, shaking his head over each of them before finally finding a charcoal grey one he liked. It might not be the height of fashion, but it would look much better on Peter than the polyester monstrosities would.

Remus nearly sighed with relief when Sirius pulled out a darker suit that wouldn’t make Peter look like a pale sausage.

"If she wants. I thought it would nice to go dancing. Is the jitterbug still popular with muggles?"

Sirius stopped himself from pulling out his hair, but barely. "Peter, just where are you getting this information about muggles?"

Peter sighed. "I guess not then. I read some books my dad had from when he took Muggle Studies at Hogwarts."

Remus covered his groan with a cough. "That’s a bit out of date, mate. Disco’s the in thing now."

At Peter’s blank look, Sirius groaned. "You know that stuff Remus plays at our flat? Sounds like stuff you can shag to? That’s disco."

Remus nearly groaned again at the mention of shagging, and he wondered wildly if he could pull Sirius into a dressing room.

"Well, how do you dance to that?" Peter demanded as he disappeared into a fitting room with the suit Sirius had selected.

Sirius looked at Remus, wide-eyed. "Are we going to have to teach him how to dance too?"

"Sounds like it," Remus practically whimpered, wanting nothing more than to drag Sirius back to their bed. "Aren’t there any spells that could make him a great dancer?"

"Like the tarantallegra?" Sirius muttered, wrapping his arms around Remus’ waist and resting his head on the other man’s shoulder while they waited for Peter to come out of the changing room.

Remus snorted. "I really don’t think that would impress Callista, at least not in a good way. So apparently we’re going to be dancing masters for the afternoon."

"Maybe we could send him over to James and Lily. At least they could show him how to lead. That’s something we haven’t figured out yet."

"Mainly because we never manage more than a few steps before you have me flat on the floor," Remus pointed out, grinning.

Sirius cocked an eyebrow. "And is this a problem?"

"Only for teaching. So we probably should enlist James and Lily’s help. We’ll send Peter to them and then go bar our doors to prevent any more interruptions."

Sirius sighed. "I still think we should apparate to Hawaii." He heard a crash from the changing room and looked at Remus. "You’re the teacher, you handle it."

"Thanks ever so.

"Peter!" Remus raised his voice. "Everything all right in there?"

"Fine, fine. Just fell over trying to get the trousers on."

"One leg at a time, Peter."

There was silence for a moment. "Oh."

Remus closed his eyes and shook his head. "Astonishing."

Sirius slumped against the outer wall of the changing room. "He managed to do it for seven years when we all lived together," he muttered.

"Well, never having sat and watched him, I have no idea whether he sat down and accioed them on," Remus sighed.

"I did and he didn’t."

"Oh, so you were watching other men, were you?"

"I watched all of you, just like I listened to all of you," Sirius said, shrugging. "Doesn’t mean I’ll do it now."

"Better not. You have a very jealous lover, Sirius, and he doesn’t plan to share you. Assuming he ever gets to have you again," Remus sighed.

"Hawaii. Tonight," Sirius said emphatically. "If that doesn’t work, then New York City. I’ve got a load of American cash left."

Remus chuckled. "Do you hear me arguing?" He turned to face the changing room.

"Oi, Peter, aren’t you done yet?"

"Just about." Peter came back out in the suit, which fitted him rather well, and stood for their inspection.

"Need a shirt and tie too," Remus murmured, "but it’ll do to go on with."

"And shoes, don’t need to see you out with knee high boots or something with huge buckles," Sirius murmured. "Does look good on you though, Wormy. Callista should swoon."

"You look almost handsome, Wormtail," Remus agreed. "And we’ll pop you off to James and Lily for dancing lessons. We still end up arguing over who’s leading, so we’d be no help to you."

"Thanks, blokes. You’re good friends."

"We’re Marauders, that’s past friendship," Sirius countered, clapping Peter on the back and sending him back into the changing room to get into his own clothes again.

"Which is the only reason he’s still alive after this afternoon," Remus grumbled quietly. "That was _not_ a good time to be interrupted."

"Tonight, Moony," Sirius murmured, though in fact, he was just as interested in taking up where they’d left off as Remus.

"Bloody right," Remus replied emphatically. "I’ve been trying to make love to you for nearly two weeks now. Enough is enough."

Sirius tried not to squirm but wasn’t particularly successful at it. "Once we get Peter to James and Lily’s, I’m all yours, I promise."

"I intend to hold you to that." Remus glanced away as Peter rejoined them. "Now for the rest of the outfit."

"Shirt, socks, shoes and clean underwear."

"I doubt Callista will be seeing my underwear!"

"Always best to be prepared, Peter," Remus chuckled, nudging him toward the shirts. "Now hurry up. We want time for James and Lily to teach you the proper dance steps."

"Remus!" Sirius scolded, "I don’t think they’ll be showing Peter _that_. I mean, Lily’s pregnant!"

Remus blinked in surprise. "What exactly do you do when _you_ dance, Sirius? It sounds like fun."

Sirius tapped Remus on the nose and grinned. "Some time I’ll take you to a muggle club I know, Moony, and you’ll see."

"I look forward to it. My version of dancing isn’t nearly as exciting as yours sounds."

"Hallo! Remember me here, the one with the date? You two can snog anytime."

"If only that were true," Remus groaned.

Sirius grumbled in agreement and took the suit from Peter’s hands before he could wrinkle it. "Have to agree with Moony there; you and James have horrid timing."

"How many times a day do you need to go at it?" Peter scoffed.

"I’d settle for once this _month_!" Remus growled.

When Peter started to laugh, Sirius shook his head. "Don’t, mate; it’s the truth."

"But that’s absurd! You live together."

"We noticed. We both also have insane schedules, my monthly incapacity, and friends who appear unexpectedly. It’s been _weeks_!"

Peter still looked unconvinced, and Sirius smacked himself in the head with his palm. "Do you want us to take Veritaserum or something?" he nearly howled. "Do you think this is something we want to _brag_ about?"

"No, no, of course not," Peter gabbled, backing away slightly. "But you must admit it sounds absurd."

"Absurd or not, it’s the truth. So you’ll excuse us if we don’t stick around for your dancing lesson," Remus replied a bit sharply.

"And if we ask you to hurry a bit in picking out the rest of your clothes," Sirius added.

"Er, right." Peter reached blindly for a fuchsia, ruffled, polyester shirt, making Remus gag.

"On second thought, we’ll pick them for you," Remus said hastily, pulling out a simple black shirt that would contrast nicely with the grey suit.

"You do that, I’ll get the tie," Sirius said quickly, going in search of something that didn’t sport wide diagonal stripes.

It only took a few minutes to collect the various bits Peter would need, and they all trooped to the cash to pay for it.

"There, Callista will think you look simply smashing," Remus told Peter.

"I hope so. Rather odd clothes if you ask me."

Remus rolled his eyes behind Peter’s back.

"They’re classics," Sirius promised, watching Peter count out the pound notes and breathing a sigh of relief when he did it correctly. "Just remember, if you want to take her somewhere casual next, wear denims."

"You mean like you and Remus wear all the time, James too? I don’t think they’re quite my thing."

"Trust us, Wormy, they’re everyone’s thing." Remus caught up one of the bags and began to nudge Peter toward the door.

"Though we aren’t shopping for them today," Sirius said quickly when he spotted Peter looking at a display of jeans. "The suit will do you fine, and if you’re lucky, you won’t need anything for later." He winked at the last.

"Callista’s not that sort of witch!" Peter drew himself up.

"Girl! You mean girl," Remus hissed, darting a look around to see if anyone’d overheard. "Right, that’s it. You’re off to James and Lily now, and Sirius and I are for home. Best of luck, chum. And if you call us tonight to tell us about it, I will kill you." With a quick smile, he began tugging Sirius away.

"Though we still want details!" Sirius called out before Remus dragged him off. Once they were outside the store, he started snickering. "You do realize we didn’t let James and Lily know he was coming, right?"

"That’s entirely their problem. And if he interrupts something, well, it’s only fair. Right now I want to go home, bolt the door, put curses on every door and window, and drag you into our bed."

"And here I thought we were going to Hawaii," Sirius pouted before grinning. "So, what’s stopping you?"

"Nothing now that those muggles have moved on." A moment later they apparated into their bedroom. "Start undressing while I go barricade every entrance," Remus ordered, striding toward the door.

"Yes, sir!" Sirius saluted smartly and began stripping off his clothes, leaving them thrown carelessly around as he undressed.

It wasn’t long before Remus rejoined him, closing and bespelling the bedroom door as well. "There, I don’t think anyone short of Dumbledore himself could get in here now." He stared at Sirius as he removed his own clothes and crawled onto the gently undulating waterbed. "So where were we?"

Sirius climbed into bed alongside Remus and stretched out on his back. "I believe your cock was up my arse and I was begging for more."

"For shame, Siri, no skipping ahead. As _I_ recall, I had my tongue up your arse and you were begging for more. And I wasn’t nearly done with that." Remus’ tongue trailed up the inside of Sirius’ leg, not stopping till he reached Sirius’ balls.

"Damn, caught me out," Sirius mumbled before he gave a groaning sigh and relaxed.

"You know I’ll have to punish you for that," Remus chuckled throatily, his tongue lazily lapping along the crevice, always stopping short of the tight ring of muscle.

Sirius squirmed, setting the bed in motion again. "Moony... that’s not nice!"

"No, it’s not." Remus smiled wickedly. "But I never said anything about being nice." He flicked his tongue quickly over the opening before sliding back down to suck on Sirius’ balls again.

"But you’re the - fuck - nice one, everyone - oh, Merlin, yes! - says so," Sirius gasped, now writhing in earnest.

"No Marauder was ever nice." Remus breathed the words against Sirius’ damp skin, smiling as the dark-haired man squirmed.

"Heh - corrupted you," Sirius panted, spreading his legs wider and pressing against Remus’ mouth.

"And now you get to live with the consequences." Remus nipped at the soft skin between Sirius’ leg and groin, then licked it soothingly. His fingers trailed over Sirius’ legs and torso, just barely touching him.

Sirius closed his eyes and took a deep breath, willing himself to relax and allow Remus to do as he wanted. A fine shudder ran through him as Remus’ hands glided over his skin, and he felt his erection throb, sending a droplet of precome oozing over his stomach.

"Mmm." Remus dragged his mouth up the straining length, his tongue darting out to lap at the bittersweet droplets, tasting Sirius. "Love the way you taste," he murmured, tongue delving into the tiny slit in search of more.

"You could blow me then," Sirius offered in a strained voice.

"I _could_ ," Remus murmured ruminatively, his mouth hovering over the tip of Sirius’ erection. "But I won’t." With a final lap he was moving away again, and he grabbed a pillow and tucked it under Sirius’ hips, raising him. Another one and Sirius was where he wanted him, and Remus’ tongue was again probing at his opening.

"Or you could fuck me." Now Sirius’ voice held a note of pleading.

"All in good time, Padfoot." Remus was enjoying this much too much to want to stop yet. Sirius was slowly loosening and opening to him as his tongue pressed inside, exploring him intimately.

Sirius arched up off the bed - or tried to as the mattress followed his every move. "Prat," he rasped before shuddering again.

"But I’m your prat, and you love me." Remus held out a hand and murmured, "Accio," and suddenly there was lube on the fingers he was pressing into Sirius.

Giving up on any attempt at speaking, Sirius could only groan and whisper Remus’ name, keeping his eyes locked on his lover’s amber ones the whole time.

"Oh yes." Remus couldn’t wait any longer, and he pulled his fingers free despite Sirius’ attempt to arch up and keep them inside him. Moments later the head of his cock was pressing against the slick opening and sliding inside, making both men gasp. "Finally," he panted, head falling back as he shivered.

"Mooney!" Sirius cried, grabbing at his knees and pulling them back toward his chest to allow Remus to press farther inside him. "Yes, yours..." His words dissolved in a groan as Remus began to move inside him.

Remus stared down at him as they rocked together, the amber eyes bled to the merest ring of gold around passion-widened pupils. "Mine," he rasped in agreement, hips slowly increasing their speed as he possessed Sirius.

Sirius nodded and clenched down around the shaft inside him, one hand stealing from his knee to clutch Remus’ hair and pull him in for a devouring kiss.

Remus went eagerly, his tongue inviting Sirius’ in to play, then pressing forward to explore the other man’s mouth. And all the while their hips rocked together, maintaining that gradually increasing rhythm.

After having been on edge for what felt like—and in fact was—weeks, it didn’t take long for Sirius to feel the familiar tightening in his body, and he twisted upwards almost violently.

Crying out at the sudden movement, Remus suddenly drove deep into the grasping body beneath him, wailing Sirius’ name as he came.

Sirius was coming as well, his hand tightening in Remus’ hair as they rocked together, his seed wetting both their stomachs.

Remus slumped over his lover, panting. "Never again," he mumbled into Sirius’ throat. "I don’t care what we have to do to them, we never let it go this long again."

"We’ll stun whoever tries," Sirius muttered, shifting his legs from around Remus’ hips to around his legs so that he was more comfortable. "I don’t care if it’s Dumbledore or You-Know-Who himself."

Remus nodded. "We’re the next thing to newlyweds. People should know better." He pried the pillows out from beneath Sirius’ arse and tossed them back to the head of the bed, snuggling close.

"Mm hmm. Remind me to get one of those ‘do not disturb’ signs I’ve seen around and hang it on our door next time, okay?"

"Brilliant idea," Remus murmured, more interested in playing with Sirius’ hair than paying much attention to what they were talking about.

Sirius murmured an assent. "You’re the good one and I’m the smart one."

"Except that I’m good _and_ smart, so what does that leave you?"

"You."

"Too true. You couldn’t get rid of me if you wanted." Remus smiled faintly. "And I haven’t noticed you wanting to."

Sirius yawned and shrugged. "Why? Took long enough to get you in the first place. Besides, I need someone to help me watch James’ and Lily’s baby when it comes."

"Ah, now we get the truth, you just want a free babysitter," Remus chuckled.

"Found me out, have you?"

"You can never fool me for very long," Remus replied loftily.

"Had you believing Moaning Myrtle peeked in our showers for over a year though, didn’t I?"

"Maybe it was someone else peeking I was worrying about!"

"Who? That Anthony Goldman who was in fifth year when we graduated?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Prat. Go to sleep so we can do this again. It’s going to take more than once to make up for the last couple of weeks."

Sirius yawned again and wrapped his arms around Remus. "Let him top one time and he thinks he’s in charge."

"I don’t care who tops so long as there are no more interruptions." He finally pulled out and settled himself comfortably on top on Sirius.

"Except for using the loo, I don’t plan on leaving this bed the rest of the weekend." As Sirius spoke, he closed his eyes, already half asleep.

"A perfect plan," Remus agreed sleepily.

"Of course, I came up with it."


End file.
